Flaccavento is Running for Congress
-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on November 2, 2017.
“I’m running on a platform that starts with a foundation of revitalizing and rebuilding our economy,” said Anthony Flaccavento. The Abingdon farmer, author, small business owner and sustainable economic development consultant is seeking the 2018 Democratic nomination for Virginia’s 9th Congressional District. He recently spoke to members of the Democratic Party of Floyd at the Jesse Peterman Library.
Flaccavento – who won the Democratic nomination to run against Morgan Griffith in 2012 but not the election – talked about building on the region’s innovative momentum that is already taking place in roots music, farmers markets and manufacturers that are frequently undermined by tax trade and economic development policies that reward absentee owners. He proposed creating economic policies that invest in prosperous communities that are restoring and sustaining their eco-systems. “It’s not impossible. It’s being done,” he said.
He spoke about the absurdity of designing economic policy based on collateral damage and focused too much on monetary wealth that is concentrated in the hands of a few. “Then we design environmental and social welfare policy that sort of fix the problems that our economic policies create,” he said.
“We have to rethink how we talk about the environment, to think of it as fundamentally –in rural areas especially – the place where people derive their livelihoods from.” So rather than being something we just protect, Flaccavento suggests that we think about environmentalism as celebrating, rewarding and building up livelihoods that are sustainable and benefit the local community.
Flaccevento believes that his economic strategy will help to restore civility in our dialogue and encourage a sense of community to place. “We’ve got to level the playing field of what’s happened between rural areas and urbans centers, what’s happened between the 9th district and Richmond and northern Virginia. What’s happened between Wall Street and Main Street is essentially a progression of policy and investment decisions that have created a really unlevel playing field.”
During a question and answer period, Flaccavento was asked how he would get things done in Congress. He responded by citing conversations he has had with former Congressman Rick Boucher (also from Abington). Boucher, who was the U.S. Representative for Virginia’s 9th congressional district from 1983 to 2011, described the tremendous influence a Congressperson can have by working with federal agencies, many of which Flaccavento already has relationships with.
“It would translate into steering investment, grants and loan money to the right kind of things,” Flaccavento said. He spoke of working on practical and incremental legislation that could be supported by both parties and of holding regional gatherings on economic development that would draw from positive models around the country.
Along with what Flaccavento refers to as “bottom-up economy” (as opposed to trickle down), other policy priorities important to Flaccavento are education, health and health care. His wife was a public school teacher in the Abington area for 30 years. They were both involved in their children’s education, but Flaccavento says he still has a lot o to learn and plans to start an education task force if elected. “There are certain things I feel I know well and am good at and others things I’m open to being schooled on,” he said.
Flaccavento noted that he is entering the race seven months earlier than he did for the 2012 election. He plans to use the time to learn, as well as campaign. “I’m committed to a minimum of 100 town halls and community meetings between now and the election. I plan to be out there.”
Plans also include the grassroots mobilization of a town-by-town set of volunteers. Along with speaking engagements and fundraising, the campaign will make use of social media to get Flaccavento’s message out. He will make and post a video ( Flacc 4 Congress) once a week and plans to tweet daily, he said.
Note: More on Anthony Flaccavento’s platform can be found on his website bottomupeconomy.org
